The purpose of this blog is to discuss and explore the mythical and metahistorical origins and development of the Aryan[Indo-European,Indo-Germanic] race and their metaphysical beliefs. This is a companion blog to Celto-Germanic Culture, Myth and History and Die Armanenschaft der Ario-Germanen blogs.

Lascaux cave art

Monday, December 28, 2015

The Teuton and His Relationship with the Wolf

Fenrir, the monstrous wolf referred to in the Poetic Edda, the Prose Edda and the Heimskringla (Hákonarmál)is generally regarded with fear and/or loathing within heathen circles. However we must delve deeper, dig below the surface of things to begin to grasp the esoteric meaning of this creature and the myths associated with him.

Fenrir or Fenrisulf is the offspring of Loki from the giantess Angrboda. He features in two myths; the fettering of the wolf by Tyr and his unleashing at Ragnarok. What intrigues me the most is why the Aesir tolerated the presence of the wolf, why they bothered to fetter him instead of destroying him straight away. There must be a reason for this. Our Gods are not stupid: they are far wiser than us, their descendants. Woden in particular has great in-sight and knew that the wolf would be the eventual undoing of the present race of Gods and at the climax of the age will cause His death-or rather His transformation.We know that He knew this for it is clear from Vafþrúðnismál when Woden questions Vafthrudnir that He already knew the answer to the question He was asking for this was a contest of wisdom, something that is not unusual in the Eddas and is worthy of analysis in its own right.

"Much I (Woden) have travelled, much have I tried out,

much have I tested the Powers;

what will Odin's life's end be,

when the Powers are torn apart?"

"The wolf will swallow the Father of Men,

Vidar will avenge this;

the cold jaws of the beast he will sunder

in battle." (52-53, Larrington version of The Poetic Edda)

The Aesir thus chose to contain the Fenris wolf, to keep him close to their side. In Gylfaginning in the Prose Edda it is written:

"The Aesir brought up the wolf at home, and it was only Tyr who had the courage to approach the wolf to give it food."

So not only did Fenrir reside with the Aesir but he was fed by them! This is a strange thing to do when there are other options available. However this is a very human way of looking at things and the Gods are wiser, far wiser than us. Gylfaginning repeats what we already know from the older Poetic Edda:

"And when the gods saw how much it was growing each day, and all prophecies foretold that it was destined to cause them harm, then the Aesir adopted this plan, that they made a strong fetter which they called Leyding and brought it to the wolf and suggested he should try his strength with the fetter."(Faulkes translation)

The 'prophecies' that Snorri refers to undoubtedly include the ones concerning Fenris in Voluspa:

"The the second grief of Frigg comes about

when Odin advances to fight against the wolf,

and the bright slayer of Beli against Surt;

then the beloved of Frigg must fall.

"Then the great son of War-father,

Vidar, advances against the Beast of Slaughter;

with his hand he stabs his sword to the heart

of Loki's kinsman: then his father is avenged." (53-54, Larrington translation)

Aryan antiquity viewed history or the movement of time in cycles. It was never viewed in a linear sense. This distortion appeared with the xtianisation of our ancestors and has no place in a healthy Aryan life-centred, rather than man-centred cosmogony. Woden knows this also. He realised that it was necessary to keep the agents of destruction, ie Loki and Fenrir close at hand for not only was the end inevitable but Loki in particular on occasions would prove to be of use to the Aesir because of his sheer cunning and intelligence. It is only as we approach Ragnarok will the Loki influence be fully unleashed, no longer restrained as Fenrir and Jörmungandr will no longer be confined. Indeed we see Jörmungandr doing his work today with the increasing volume and intensity of earthquakes and tidal wave flooding throughout the world, all in accordance with Eddic prophecy and the prophecies of Woden's Initiates alive today.Now whilst I am NOT an advocate of the worship of Loki what I am saying is that this force or influence in itself is not necessarily 'evil' in the sense that man views evil. May I make the point here that when we talk about 'good. and 'evil' these concepts are more associated with the judeo-xtian-islamic world view than a healthy Aryan Weltanschauung for these words are suggestive of moral absolutes and it would be a mistake for us to be influenced by these concepts. For this reason I tend not to use these terms in my writings. Loki and his offspring are indeed at the end of each cycle of the ages catalysts of destruction and thus agents of CHANGE or development. Let us pause here and note a great truth: without change there can be NO life for change is the necessary dynamic of existence and without it there would be no life to begin with. We as physical beings change. We are born; we develop, we mature, we decay and we die. This all part of the Listian concept of ARISING-BECOMING-PASSING AWAY-NEW ARISING. Even the Gods are subject to these very same universal laws.

Thus our world has known multiple Ragnaroks but the Ragnarok which we are facing has a special dimension to it. It is a religious and indeed also a racial Ragnarok for it has been revealed by our Folk Warder that in this age Ragnarok=Korangar and as I myself have revealed we have the choice in the era of Ragnarok between Walhalla/Allahlaw. We see this being currently played out on the world stage. In the aftermath of the global conflagration between the two destructive Abrahamic religions-Islam and the pseudo-xtian 'New World Order' we will step into the power vacuum that will be left. Thus we must do all we can exoterically and esoterically to bring this about. In folkish Wodenism we are not concerned with the exoteric struggle-we will leave that to the youth but we are concerned with the esoteric struggle and we need to take this struggle into other dimensions, other worlds or planes of existence outside of Midgarth. In a Europe destroyed by Allahlaw we will usher in the Widar God force of Walhalla as the natural racial alternative to the slave religions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Not only will our peoples be freed from spiritual and racial contamination but the whole of nature will be rejuvinated as we are told in the Eddas:

In addition to the Fenris wolf there are other monstrous wolves which make their appearance at Ragnarok, namely Skoll who pursues the sun whilst it is on its course in the sky and Hati who likewise pursues the moon:

"High said: 'It is two wolves, and the one that is going after her is called Skoll. She is afraid of him and he will catch her, and the one that is running ahead of her is called Hati Hrodvitnisson, and he is trying to catch the moon, and that will happen." (Gylfaginning, Faulkes translation)

Indeed even mightier and more monstrous than Skoll and Hati is Moongarm or Managarm:

"Then spoke Gangleri: 'What is the origin of the wolves?'

High said: 'A certain giantess lives east of Midgard in a forest called Ironwood. In that forest live trollwives called Iarnvidiur. The ancient giantess breeds as sons many giants and all in wolf shapes, and it is from them that these wolves are descended. And they say that from this clan will come a most mighty one called Moongarm. He will fill himself with the lifeblood of everyone that dies, and he will swallow heavenly bodies and spatter heaven and all the skies with blood. As a result the sun will lose its shine and winds will then be violent and will rage to and fro. Thus it says in Voluspa:

'In the east lives the old one, in Ironwood, and breeds there Fenrir's kind. Out of them all comes one in particular, sun's snatcher in troll's guise.

He gorges the life of doomed men, reddens gods' halls with red gore. Dark is sunshine for summers after, all weathers hostile. Know you yet, or what?'" (Gylfaginning, Faulkes translation)

It would appear that Managarm only appears in the Prose Edda. The suffix Garm means destroyer and thus this entity is the destroyer of the moon. Managarm may be the same creature as Garm:

"Garm bays loudly before Gnipa-cave,

the rope will break and the ravenour run free,

much wisdom she knows, I see further ahead

to the terrible doom of the victorious gods." (Voluspa 49, Larrington translation)

There certainly seems to be an element of confusion between the exact roles of Garm, Managarm, Skoll, Hati and Fenrir!

The wolf is also a feature of Germanic legend and we know that certain members of the Volsung clan, namely Sigmund and Sinfjotli had the ability to transform themselves into wolves. Indeed the werewolf (man-wolf) legend is rife amongst the pre-xtian Germanic peoples. Those who lived outside the normal rules of society were known as Ulfhednar (wolf-heads) and certain of these formed mystical warrior bands known as Männerbünde, dedicated to Woden. In the Eddas Woden is pictured as being in the company of His two wolves Freki and Geri which both mean 'ravenous'. Why exactly this should be one can only guess. However His two wolves share a connection with His two ravens, Hugin and Munin: they are all feeders off the battlefield dead and Woden is lord of the battlefield amongst many other functions which He has.

The name of 'Wolf' or 'Wulf' appears as part of the names of many heroes in Germanic legend and history. Kris Kershaw in his Odin: Der einäugige Gott und die indogermanischen Männerbünde states:

"It stands beyond question, that wolf names generally predominate amongst the Germanic peoples and especially with the Indo-Germanic peoples in comparison with dog names." (WOTANS KRIEGER'S TRANSLATION of the German translation of the original work in English!)

Even down to modern times this is still the case and we are reminded that the name Adolf is a contraction of Adalwolf-noble wolf. Clearly this relationship between Germanic man and the wolf is a reflection of the relationship between Woden and His wolves. Let us remember that man's best friend, the dog is basically a domesticated wolf with all the ferocious elements bred out of him although some breeds of dogs still resemble the wolf physically. The Wuffinga dynasty of East Anglia takes its name from their ancestor Wuffa, a descendent of Woden. The Wuffas are in reality the Wuffingas-sons of the wolf!

It behoves us to reflect on Germanic man's relationship with the wulf for it is a complex one containing both negative and positive attributes. This is most especially urgent because we are living in the Wolf Age prophesied in the Voluspa. It is inevitable and indeed right that we should explore the wolf part of our natures as a weapon to be used in the struggle that faces us. In folkish Wodenism many of us have adopted the name of Wulf and there is a reason for this and it is rooted in the Blood Memory.

Just as the Ravens have a special significance .. I'm convinced the lesser known initiatory secret of Geri and Freki and their relationship to Him are clearly symbolic of Wodan's, and therefore the Order of the Ariya's ascetic nature.

Hello Joseph, Ragnarok in my opinion will be triggered by a global war between the two dark forces of the Demiurge, the forces of islam and the judaised 'west', mutually destroying one another whilst we look on and prepare to step into the resulting power vacuum. This will primarily be a job for our youth. The rest of us should be the educators of the awakended Aryans of the future.

I think the names is important.. Abstemiousness is the reverse to the rapaciousness their names signify. I believe the antonym applies because of the *control* the High One exercises over them, contrary to their 'wild' and unrestrained animal instincts. And as Evola pointed out, asceticism is very much in the realm of practice of the warrior elite and the divine monarch, who partakes of both the Warrior and Priestly functions of society which is exactly what He is. Could it be that the Wolf is such a well known and ancient symbol of nobility for the very reason they occupy such a position at the throne of the High One? The Ulfhednar themselves must also, by necessity, be physical and spiritual ascetics/ holy warriors themselves and the Wolf is their symbol..which is very significant.

The difference between the Ravens and the Wolves I believe lay in the position they occupy, and again, their names. Rather than at His feet, they occupy the Higher realm of His intellectual and transcendent nature. Of course, nothing more need be said of that I think.

Also, thanks for the welcome. I've actually been reading your blog for the past few years..checking back at least once a day. I'd be lying if I said you haven't been a guide in certain respects for my own development in these matters.